Corbett Slipping Already???

Last night, there was a State Senate Special Election in PA. The Democrat, Judy Schwenk, won a previously Democratic state, in a district that Corbett had done well in, despite heavy involvement from Corbett. Democratic State Chairman Jim Burn released this statement:

"Congratulations to Judy Schwank, a state Senator who will fight for the middle class in the spirit of Senator Michael O'Pake," said Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Jim Burn. "Democrats worked together to ensure a victory in a difficult district, and I applaud the effort of everyone involved. This was a successful, all hands on deck effort with a strong focus on grassroots.

During her campaign, Judy Schwank focused on creating jobs, getting the economy back on track and standing up to Tom Corbett and his budget that will likely increase property taxes and tuition for middle class families.

Tom Corbett has spent his early days in office attacking the middle class while fighting for his largest donors and other corporate special interests. Today's election was a referendum on Tom Corbett and his record. In this early test, Tom Corbett and his budget have been roundly rejected by voters."

Meanwhile, Corbett's allies are taking to making things up, as is pointed out by LVI.

It's too bad that the Morning Call saw fit to publish the following false claim from Michelle Griffin-Young of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce in an unfortunate op-ed supporting Tom Corbett's budget cuts:
It is time for Pennsylvania to change its ranking of 47th in the nation for job growth. As the governor said, "government is not meant to be the answer for jobs. The private sector is."
Perhaps Ms. Griffin-Young is unaware that Pennsylvania ranked third in the nation in number of jobs created, but there's no excuse for the Morning Call not to have fact-checked this whopper. Here's Steven Herzenberg from the Keystone Research Center:
While far too many Pennsylvania families are struggling in the aftermath of the worst recession in decades, the state’s economy is rebounding better – and faster – than most states.

In 2010, the Commonwealth added more than 65,000 jobs, ranking third among the 50 states in the number of jobs created. On a percentage basis (adjusting for the size of each state’s economy), Pennsylvania’s job growth was 1.2% — exceeding three-fourths of all states.

Don't let things like facts and statistics get in the way of a GOP talking point.

Sounds to me like Tom Corbett isn't off to the start he hoped for. With potential opponents like Joe Sestak and Rob McCord waiting in the wings, he increasingly looks like a one-term Governor to me.

The Chamber and the AFL-CIO Team Up For Infrastructure Spending- But Will The GOP House Kill It

The AFL-CIO and The Chamber of Commerce agree that it's time to spend money on infrastructure. It's "spending" to some, an "investment" to others, but the leading groups on both the side of capitol (Chamber) and labor (AFL), want to see this get done. So why wouldn't it get done?

Well, because the House is run by an incompetent majority that loses some votes despite large majorities, and even broad agreement. Speaker Boehner and the boys think infrastructure investments are "evil spending," that is driving our national debt (note: they're not sane). Hence, i'm certain they will come out against this.

Will their members budge though? Despite the tremendous positive impact that high-speed rail from the Lehigh Valley to New York and Philadelphia would have, Lehigh Valley Congressman (mine) Charlie Dent opposes basically any investment in rail service to get anywhere. His district has a need for more major roads (anyone who's ever been on 22 at 5 pm can attest to that), with a fast-growing population and room for more development. Being as congested as the roads are here, can Dent actually afford to back his leadership, and go against his friends at the Chamber AND his constituents' needs? Would he dare to? If members like him walk in lock-step with Johnny Boehner and the boys, their home districts will suffer, and that would be a shame.

Official Foreign Policy, Meet Chamber of Commerce Foreign Policy

The President shall set foreign policy- except for American Business. Apparently the Chamber of Commerce isn't for sanctions on Iran:

Head of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Mines Mohammad Nahavandian underlined on Wednesday that the US and European companies and economic institutions are completely opposed to imposing sanctions against Iran.
"The economic atmosphere of the US and Europe is opposed to sanctions against Iran," Nahavandian told FNA.

Stressing that the American people are not interested in imposing sanctions against Tehran, he said that the US Chamber of Commerce along with seven other institutions recently sent a statement to Iran and underlined the US private sector's opposition to such embargoes.

Are you kidding me? Not only does this group spend hundreds of millions to oppose consumers having basic protections in their health insurance, they also oppose sanctioning a regime that does not seek peace with our nation. How is this ok?